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I was just curious what people's opinions are on the cyclones? I think they look great but for some reason I am more drawn to the wheels the car comes with. Even the turbine wheels are almost a shade too sporty for me, but they are very beautiful. The only thing that pushed me firmly away from the 21's was talking to my friend who has the 21's and as such the thinner tires on her Panamera and she has had to replace five tires in two years. Luckily she purchased the tire warranty. I saw the Rial Lugano's at tirerack.com and they look like a great 19" alternative to the turbine if you get the right lug nuts, pressure sensors, the right guy puts them on for you, etc. But honestly I am not sure it is worth all that trouble when you can just get the cyclones through Tesla with the Tesla logo on them, and the primacy tire upgrade. Plus if you look closely, the Rial's are slightly more curved and thus more sporty and masculine than the Tesla Turbine design. And I guess I would also be really worried about them flying off the car if they weren't installed correctly. So that brings me back to my first question, namely, esthetically which do you prefer, 19" cylcone or standard? So far, I think I am just leaning toward the standard wheels but I would love to hear what others think. Thanks!

AmpedRealtor | September 22, 2013

The cyclones look cheap to me. Also note that the spokes are grouped into pairs with more space between pairs. To me it's jarring because when I look at a turbine or fan, I expect the blades to be evenly spaced. Visually, the pairing makes the wheel look like a mistake or a bad design. But that's just my opinion.

After having a loaner with 21" turbine wheels, I am so glad I got the stock 19" wheels. The turbines/cyclones are too busy. The stock wheels make a nice first impression while visually getting out of the way as you admire the sexy brakes.

chrisdl | September 22, 2013

The Turbines, the Cyclones, and the Rial Luganos all turn backwards on the right-hand side of the car. That's a no go for me, but if you don't mind that, then just pick what you personally like best.

eking | September 22, 2013

Interesting that they turn backwards on the right-hand side. Makes sense. Thanks for the tip.

GaryREM.va.us | September 22, 2013

Never a good question to ask because you're getting the opinions of people (which are all personal) and I'd bet no one commenting has even actually seen them on a car. And I laugh every time someone comments about them turning "backwards"!

Personally, I think the standard wheels are quite nice and that they look better in real life, plus, if you like seeing those Brembos, they're a good choice. Having said that, I ordered the cyclones myself because I liked the way they looked in the renderings.

I'll find out if that was a good choice when I do get the beast. Considering getting them painted gray.

Brian H | September 22, 2013

chrisdl;
Don't like backwards? Would you prefer the wheels created a vacuum or a hi-pressure bubble under the car?

eking | September 22, 2013

Thanks GaryREM. I think the cyclones look great. They are a sound option if you want that look without the tires that need to be replaced pretty often. My friend does not race her Panamera around. She does very little freeway driving, mostly around town mom-stuff driving. But there are potholes and the tires pick up nails or other debris and sure enough one needs to be replaced 2-3 times a year. Even with the tire warranty she has (assuming you could get such a thing from TM) I cannot imagine sitting in the service center 2 or 3 times a year wasting time while my tires are changed when I could be doing something else. She said she regrets getting those tires, and I believe her. I remember when I was deciding whether to forgo ordering the 21's someone else said to me, "If you get them, you need to get the run flat tires or you will be changing them all the time." Sounds awesome. Not. So yeah, the cyclones are great. And I have seen them; I saw them at the Service Center when I wanted to see different colors in person, and they look amazing. All of the wheel options look amazing. It's such a beautiful car, you can't go wrong. One thing that I think I will do regardless of whether I get the cyclones is upgrade the tires to the Primacy. Should have done that from the outset. Please post pictures of your MS when you get it. I am sure it will be gorgeous. :)

GDH | September 22, 2013

I like the cyclones.

earlyretirement | September 22, 2013

I don't like the cyclones as much as the turbine grey wheels. They look amazing! I was at the Hawthorne supercharger and saw a P85+ with the turbines with dark grey and I would buy those in a heart beat if they sold them for the 19' wheels.

GDH | September 22, 2013

The turbine greys are the best and hide brake dust.

Suturecabre | September 22, 2013

I can't really see the wisdom of 21" tires when there's NO all-season option. At all. Even if the price of a spare set of winter rims is small compared to a $120,000+ car, they're still not an expense I'd want since I'd upgrade to the turbines to use the turbines, not some other rims for half the year (they'd have to be something different looking anyway to be worthwhile).

They listened and finally gave a 19" version of the turbines. Maybe they'll also give us a 20"....Because 20" are big enough to give the look of the 21", but way more options for tires, including all-season.

I would likely end up getting stock rims and finding some other 20" option.

nomoDinos @ca.us | September 22, 2013

Actually, I heard from Tezzla (during the prolonged test drive he graciously allowed me to take in his car) that Tire Rack has 19" turbines coming out in late October. I'm thinking of just going with the stock and trading them out one the new ones arrive.

joehuber | September 22, 2013

TireRack will be carrying the 19" Rial Lugano wheels. Not exactly the same look as Tesla's turbines but pretty similar.

mikefa | September 22, 2013

The cyclone design reduces brake dust buildup, but the standard wheels look much much much better.

earlyretirement | September 22, 2013

@ NoMoDinos & Joehuber - Really? Did you hear anything about pricing on the 19' Turbines? I'll have to look out for them. I think they look awesome.

chrisdl | September 23, 2013

Brian:
Let me list my not so great concerns on the matter:
1) If we're talking aerodynamics, is it better to have air cross flow on a car moving forward vs sucking air from under the car?
2) With cross air flow, the left and right hand side of the car will get different drag (air is easier to push out from under the car vs pushed in, or maybe vice versa). This theoretically makes the vehicle less stable and disrupts the rearward airflow or not?
3) How big is the aerodynamic influence of one wheel/rim type vs the other? Does it noticeably matter if air goes in or out at all?
4) Tesla arguably originally wanted the Turbines to be mirrored but decided not to because of cost / convenience reasons. The Lotus Evora is another car with turbine wheels available which ARE mirrored. Why would anyone bother if it was better to let them turn backwards?
5) Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn about the aerodynamics anyway, because I think the influence of how the Turbine wheel is rotating is minimal. At least I hope so! I simply really don't like the looks of the rearward turning rims on the righthand side of the car. But that's just in my eye and other people may not even notice it or may not care which is great! This matter of taste has nothing to do with aerodynamics.

There :)

eking | September 23, 2013

Well for those that do like the turbine-look I too noted that tirerack states that both the black and the silver luganos will be available in late October but the arrival date seems to keep pushing back so I wouldn't be surprised if it keeps getting delayed. My research indicates that a German company called Wolfrace may have a wider selection of Lugano turbine styles. I think for now I am going to stick with the original wheels and see how I like them for a week or so. If I feel my heart tugging for the turbine style then I will probably explore getting the Luganos from tirerack or wolfrace.

The Wolfrace website is www.wolfrace.com and the page with the Lugano selection is here:

Quality and Choice
As part of our Wolfrace GB range of alloy wheels, the radically unique Lugano is the latest edition and is being hailed as ground breaking in terms of its quality. An instantly eye-catching design with both the spokes and the rim edge finished in a combination of gloss black with high quality polished surfaces, this particular alloy wheel has recently been approved as an aftermarket solution for Renault cars. If you are looking for alloy wheel Renault then you will be hard pressed to find a more contemporary style, as the Lugano’s ten twisted turbine spokes coupled with the unique colouration makes for a boundless number of fantastic viewing angles. As with all the Wolfrace GB alloy wheels, it is made in Germany and comes with TUV certification. If you are unsure what design to go for, then it may be worth first considering what size wheel you want, as you will find 15, 16, 17 and 18 alloy wheels for sale on our website. There is so much choice in fact that we recommend customers to use the drop-down box facility to speed up the process of tracking down the perfect alloy wheels.

eking | September 23, 2013

Yikes. Just saw this link on another thread but wanted to share it in case anyone else is thinking about 19" wheels. Edmunds as of September 20th is not happy about the 21" tires. Not happy at all.